The Beast and The Prophet
by riais
Summary: Two sides existed in him now: one a monster, one a man.  As the monster overwhelms Felix, an old enemy decides to take advantage for a chance at revenge. But with help from his friends, he might just find himself again. HamaFelix


_AN at bottom_

Summary:

Two sides existed in him now: one a monster, one a man. As the monster overwhelms Felix, someone decides to take advantage for a chance at revenge. But with a little help from his friends, he might just find himself again.

Preface

_I feel it pulsating out of him, some black aura that clogs the vein of life itself. It's…suffocating to feel such deadness in the air._

_I can't think around him; I can't channel any energy or meditate in synch with the earth. The air feels dirty here, as if covered in a thick blanket of dust and smoke. Do his friends not notice? Does anyone feel what he is becoming? I want to help him, but I don't know if I'll be able to. If he would open his mind to me I could, but I know he doesn't trust me that much. He trusts his companions more than I, and even his dear sister is unable to break his cold impersonal shell._

_I don't know how long I can keep this up. My resolve is wavering. I…I need fresh air._

Chapter One

A young woman stood at the edge of the small town. Her small, lavender eyes surveyed the construction taking place before her. Since Aleph's collapse, the people had been diligently working to rebuild their beloved town. They would work sunup until sundown, and would rise early each morning to do it all over again.

It had only been a few months since the release of Alchemy, and all seemed well enough in the world. The lady knew better, of course. She knew of a greater evil that threatened to rise along the horizon. Her brother's letter had not been the only reason she had arrived in Vale.

The work had begun to slow as Sol's light neared the lowest hills in Vale. The young woman feared that she would not find her brother in the dark, but—but of course her fear was unfounded. One could not easily misplace someone, especially being a Jupiter adept! Master Hama chuckled to herself. Perhaps she worried too much. She set off toward the cluster of newly built houses. Perhaps she would find him there.

She wrung her hands nervously as she started toward the small town. The last time she had truly spoken to Ivan, it had been to tell him not to fret over his past; his destiny came first. But now that he had finished his task, he would want answers. She never wanted to have the conversation with him, but she had always known that someday she would have to.

She had known the moment her hands had touched the letter that she would be here, in Vale, explaining herself to her younger brother.

Ivan had been overjoyed when a reply had come for him by way of post. He had half expected his sister to decline when he asked her to visit Vale.

_Sister_…ah, so strange a word to roll off the tongue. To think that he could be related to anyone brought on waves of emotion.

Elated to know that he had family. Saddened to know that he had missed so much. Angered to find that his only living relative would keep the secret from him. Fear of what awaited him when he finally coaxed the answers from Hama's mouth

"Hello, Ivan?" His violet eyes flicked upwards to meet a pair of red ones. "You're awful spacious up in there, aren't you?"

Ivan stuck his tongue out at the great oaf, "You're one to talk," he said

Before Garet could manage to smack the poor boy around, a small hand snatched his wrist.

"Please Garet," Mia huffed in an exasperated tone, "do you really want him to greet his sister with bruises down the sides of his face?"

"Well," he said, turning around to face the mercury adept, "he would deserve it."

"Maybe," Mia mused, "but I wouldn't want to anger Master Hama. She seems a more than capable adept."

"Pssh," he said offhandedly, "She's just a Jupiter adept." Mia raised an eyebrow, waiting…

"…_Excuse me_?" There it was.

The door had just flown open in a gust of strong wind. It seemed as if Sheba had heard him from outside. Though the smallest of all of them, Sheba could be quite intimidating.

Garet could be heard gulping loudly. If he had known Sheba to be near, he wouldn't have dared to insult her element. If anyone would bother to measure the amount of fear in his eyes, they would find that Garet didn't think of Sheba as 'just a Jupiter adept.'

"I um…I just meant that-."

"Meant _what_,exactly?"

A soft chuckle could be heard from the other side of the room, "Calm down, Sheba," a gruff voice said, "he's not worth it."

The murderous spark disappeared from her eyes had she glanced over at Felix, his bare feet resting comfortably on the table. Had he been there the entire time? She managed an uncharacteristic evil grin and turned back toward Garet.

"I guess your right," she said, "I wouldn't know where to hide his body, anyway."

All of the adepts began to laugh (Garet somewhat nervously), but were suddenly interrupted by a loud smacking sound.

"Ow…" Felix mumbled, massaging his skull.

"How many times have I asked you not to put your feet on the table?" Jenna glared down at her brother, "Honestly Felix, you would think you'd been living with a pack of wolves" The Venus adept's expression immediately sobered, and he excused himself from the table and disappeared upstairs.

"No manners," Jenna muttered, staring after him. She had apparently not noticed the expression on his face, though Hama had. The young woman must have been the only one, because conversation continued despite his absence.

A soft cough came from the open doorway. Sheba was pushed aside as Ivan ran passed her.

"You blocking the door, Sheba" Jenna pointed out. ('No duh' Sheba thought as she stepped aside)

"Sister!" Ivan called, running into her open arms, "…I can call you that now, right?" he asked sheepishly, peeking up at her.

"Of course you can," she said, holding him out at arm's length, "you've earned it."

"Oh…" he wrapped her in another hug, "we have so much to talk about!"

Hama smiled nervously, "Of course we do." Hama patted his head gently and looked up into the room in front of her.

Hama felt like laughing. Jenna had insisted they have a get together—a party, she called it. It seemed a little silly to her that they would make an occasion of her visit to Vale, but perhaps the heroes were bored. All that world saving only to end up living like normal people? At least, she thought somewhat bitterly, the peace wouldn't drag on for too much longer.

She could hear the murmur of their thoughts as she greeted each of them. It was a normal process for her to hear thoughts. So normal, in fact, that she spent no psyenergy reading them. It was a subtle thing, too. Not even a highly trained adept could detect her presence in his mind.

But there was one presence that bothered her. In fact, it was the lack of one that caused her uneasiness.

Felix. Every time she stood in close proximity, the uneasiness began to creep into her gut. Was it simply the fact that she had found the one mind she couldn't conquer? Or was it that the barriers surrounding his mind were hiding something so terrible or evil?

No, that could not be. It could only be her pride that caused her anxiety. She shook her head to clear these thoughts.

"Is something wrong, Master Hamma?" Her gaze locked on a set of emerald eyes.

"Ah, no," she said, smiling fondly at the young wind adept, "I often lose myself in my thoughts."

"I guess that's a Jupiter thing," Garet laughed, good-naturedly.

Sheba glared. Ivan sighed.

Mia rolled her eyes, "I would say something about Mars and 'hot air,' but I am quite famished." She rubbed her tummy for emphasis and turned to Jenna, who eyed her strangely, "Is supper ready?"

Jenna began to say something to the effect of how much greater Mars was than Mercury when her stomach rumbled. Thinking better than to start another argument, she hastily nodded, and directed everyone toward the stove.

Hama moved to sit down at the table and wait until the line died down. She jumped slightly as someone spoke behind her.

"Ah," he said, "the stew is ready."

It seemed as if Felix had somehow snuck up behind her. He looked down at her surprised expression and raised an eyebrow under his mess of bangs. A silent 'What?' resounded in the air around them.

She turned around in her seat to face him, her curiosity getting the better of her, "How are you able to block me so easily?" His eyebrows furrowed slightly as he had no idea what she meant.

"Are you two going to eat, or what?" Felix nodded slightly and stepped toward the stove. Hama stood up and followed behind him.

Ah, well. Perhaps she would find out as some point.

As they moved toward the giant pot of stew, the door opened again, sending in a cool breeze around them.

"Sorry I'm late," said Isaac.

Jenna promptly threw her nearest frying pan at him, hitting him in the forehead. The Mars adept apparently didn't take well to tardiness. What an odd girl, Hama thought.

"Rude…" Jenna muttered as she passed his dazed form on the way to her seat.

Yes, wow, a very short first chapter. Anyway, I hope you are interested enough to stay tuned to see what will happen with the plot here. This story is being written to help me get back to wanting to write DE, because I don't really like it anymore and I wanted to write some more GS. I'm quite optimistic about this story, actually, as I'm a sucker for those Dark!Felix fics . Hopefully my update times won't be forever long this time. I do have the story outlined, so that's a plus.

I also wanted to get this out before the new game comes out. Because when it does, there will be a huge influx of new fanfiction for a game I haven't played. I'm going to be a little sad watching all the OldAge GS go, so I'm gonna get this up and start in on it before it all dies out and the cannon is altered.

Anyway, please tell me what you think. I love helpful suggestions or any kind of reviews.

Thanks, riais


End file.
